


For All Eternity

by TwilightLegacy13



Category: The Witchlands Series - Susan Dennard
Genre: F/F, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21991930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightLegacy13/pseuds/TwilightLegacy13
Summary: Inspired by a conversation with @un-empressed on Tumblr.  A quick one-shot of Vivia and Stix's wedding, after the series.
Relationships: Vivia Nihar/Stacia Sotar
Kudos: 6





	For All Eternity

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short one-shot, but it was a lot of fun to write because...I mean come on...Vix!! Yes, I am obsessed. Anyway, I hope you like it!
> 
> Content warning: Brief mention of temporary death.

“Stacia?” Stix’s father reached out and touched her shoulder so she would stop walking. “Where are you going? I didn’t think there was a meeting this afternoon.”

“There isn’t,” Stix assured him. “I just want to talk to Vivia.”

He smiled, his eyes twinkling when she mentioned the queen. He’d supported the match from the beginning, to the point that he’d accidentally started a rumor in Lovats that Vivia and Stix were together before they’d even realized it themselves. To this day, Stix doubted how much of what he’d said was truly an accident, as he had repeatedly claimed.

Now that they were engaged, her father was even more pleased about their relationship. He had told both of them more than once that he’d always hoped they would get married, and nobody had helped more than him in the preparations for the upcoming ceremony.

“Is it about the wedding?” her father asked eagerly.

“Yes,” Stix answered, chuckling. “It’s about the wedding.”

His smile widened and he stepped aside, gesturing to the door. “Don’t let me keep you, then. Tell her that I hope she isn’t overworking herself—I know she’s dedicated to the country, but she should have some time to rest.”

“I’ll tell her,” Stix promised, giving him a quick smile before leaving to go find Vivia. It didn’t seem to take long to get there, but that could have just been her own excitement. Though it hadn’t even been more than half a day since they’d last seen each other, any separation felt like a long one since they had gotten engaged.

Vivia was sitting at her desk, busily sorting through stacks of paper and scribbling notes to herself. She didn’t even look up when Stix came inside. “Just leave the reports on my desk and I’ll go through them tonight,” she said as she marked a specific page and wrote something on it. “And if you could ask—”

“I don’t have any reports,” she replied with a playfully apologetic tone. “I’m terribly sorry, but I thought you had enough on your hands.”

“Stix,” she exclaimed, looking away from her work. Her eyes lit up. “I didn’t know you were coming. How are you?” Her entire countenance had changed—from the hardworking and likely exhausted queen of Nubrevna to a beaming woman who had never looked so beautiful.

Stix smiled. “I’m fine, but I think you need to take a break. My father said he’s afraid you are overworking yourself and so am I—look at all this. Did you even sleep last night?”

Vivia set aside the papers and notes she’d written. “I did, but only for a few hours. There’s been a lot to do lately.” She shook her head as if to banish the thoughts of her reports and work. “But this is a nice surprise! What is it?”

“I wanted to talk about the wedding,” Stix began, perching on the edge of her desk. Vivia reached out and took her hand, squeezing her fingers. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I think we should change the vows.”

“You think we should…what?” Vivia blinked. “Wh-why? What’s wrong with them?”

Stix ducked her head, suddenly embarrassed. She had two main reasons for wanting to do it, and she’d thought this over for a long time, but now she felt suddenly shy about it. “You know how the vows talk a lot about life and death? About how we’ll love and protect each other for the rest of our lives, and how we won’t ever be separated from one another until our deaths?” She paused.

Vivia’s lips twitched, like she was fighting back a smile. “Yes…?” Her tone suggested that she knew where this was going.

“Well, I know I joke about it a lot,” Stix admitted, “and obviously I wouldn’t want anything like that to happen again, but—but I’ve already died, Vivia. Even _if_ what happened with the glass was just a vision, I’m still a Paladin, which means I’ve died dozens of times. But about the vows? About being separated?” She tightened her grip on Vivia’s hand. “Not even death has managed to do that.”

Vivia swallowed, her eyes sparkling. “I—Stix, I know that, and I think that it’s absolutely incredible. But changing the wedding vows? Is that really necessary?”

“Yes,” she insisted. “Of course, if you don’t want to do it, that’s all right. But honestly?” She leaned forward until their noses were almost touching. She could hear Vivia’s breath catch in her throat. “There are hundreds of people who have repeated those same vows for generations and not changed a word in them. I don’t want to do the same exact thing that everyone else has been doing, especially when it comes to our wedding, Viv. I want a _new_ future with you.”

Then their lips met and the rest of the world fell away. It was just Vivia and her, and the unspoken promise that they _would_ have a future together where neither ever left the other’s side.

When they broke apart, Vivia reached up and touched Stix’s cheek in a gentle caress. Her eyes were wide and happy. Almost wonderstruck. “Then let’s change the vows,” she whispered. “No mentions of death or ‘as long as we live’ in them.”

“None at all,” Stix agreed with a smile.

“Don’t fidget,” Vaness instructed as her fingers nimbly arranged Vivia’s hair, braiding it with ease. “I cannot do this right if you’re moving around, and in any case, you’ve no reason to be nervous.”

_No reason to be nervous? It’s only my wedding day, after all._

These thoughts must have been evident by her silence. “What is it that you think will go wrong? Stix loves you more than she loves anything or anyone else, and the ceremony will go smoothly.”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, energy pulsing through her veins. “That’s to say—I _do_ know it will go smoothly, but I’m still anxious. I can’t explain it.”

Vaness merely hummed in response as she finished with Vivia’s hair, having promised to arrange it in the style that she claimed would be most becoming. She had trusted the empress with that, for she herself hardly paid attention to fashions, but she didn’t want to show up to her own wedding without looking at least somewhat nicer than normal.

The empress guided her to the mirror so she could see the final result, and Vivia became speechless. It was still her standing in front of the glass, recognizable as herself, but she didn’t look the same. Her dress was a deep blue, the color of the sea during a midsummer storm, with golden embroidery along the neckline and edges of the sleeves. It wasn’t too extravagant, but she wouldn’t have liked it that way, and she thought that this suited her the most. And her hair…she’d thought that Vaness was going to do it the way she’d done her own, in an elegant knot behind her head with tendrils framing her face, but this was even better. Her hair had been done in thin braids that were arranged like a crown before coming together and falling loosely down her back.

“It’s perfect,” she said with a smile, and she meant it.

Vaness returned the smile with a rare one of her own. “Vivia, you are not leading a country to war or trying to start a rebellion. You’re getting married. Nothing will go wrong.”

It didn’t completely ease her nerves, but it did help to ground her. _Stix._ After today, they would be married. She felt her smile widen, and she turned to face Vaness. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

“It’s nothing. Now”—Vaness took a good look at Vivia’s dress and hair— “you’re ready, I think.” She handed her a bouquet of irises, which Vivia had insisted upon to honor her mother. _These_ irises weren’t black, though. These were blue like water, blue like possibilities and hope.

They walked together to where nearly everyone else was waiting, and she was reassured by seeing so many familiar faces. Vizer Sotar, who had been supportive since the very beginning. Merik, who smiled as soon as he saw his sister. Kullen, who was already grinning broadly. Safi and Iseult, who stopped whispering to each other as soon as Vivia arrived. Aeduan, who managed to look a little less apathetic than he normally did. The Hell-Bards, who had laughed for a good five minutes when they learned that the vows had been changed, but were nonetheless happy about the wedding. Leopold, who had pushed for their relationship to become public before it even existed. Cam, who was eagerly showing everyone where to sit and what to do.

And, of course, at the end of the aisle was Stix with Ryber by her side, having helped her get ready like Vaness had done for Vivia. Stix’s dress was a lighter shade of blue and had silver embroidery instead of gold, her white hair spilling over her shoulder against the fabric. She was beautiful. She was perfect.

 _I love you_ , Stix mouthed.

 _I love you too_. Vivia walked toward her like she was in a dream, and before she knew it she was standing beside Stacia Sotar and the ceremony had begun.

Conversation fell silent as the priest (most decidedly _not_ a Purist) who’d agreed to oversee the ceremony began speaking. If he’d been confused or upset by the fact that both Vivia and Stix insisted on changing the traditional vows, he had done a good job of hiding it—and it was already nearing the end of the wedding.

“Stacia Sotar,” Vivia began, looking Stix in the eyes and holding onto both of her hands. “With my arms I embrace you, with my soul I cherish you, and with my heart I love you. It would be the greatest honor to spend the rest of my life by your side. With all my being and with all my spirit, I vow to love and protect you forevermore, and I take you to be my wife for all eternity.”

Stix squeezed her hands and repeated the vows but with Vivia’s name with glistening eyes and a smile on her face. Part of Vivia still couldn’t believe that this was really happening, but the other part know that for a long time now, she’d desperately hoped it would.

When they leaned in for the first kiss of their married life, Vivia knew that this was just the first chapter of a much longer story that would go on and on.

_For all eternity._

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos or comments if you enjoyed it! You can find me on Tumblr at @twilightlegacy13 or @thevoidwell.


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